US anti-abortion groups quick to make demands

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A row over abortion rights and the complexion of the US Supreme
Court is threatening to become the first significant showdown for
the Bush Administration since the President's re-election.

Conservative anti-abortion groups, who believe they have the
support of the "moral majority" and who swept George Bush to
victory, have begun a campaign to stop a moderate Republican, Arlen
Specter, from becoming the next head of the powerful Congress
judiciary committee.

Senator Specter prompted the move when he said that a judge
staunchly opposed to abortion would be unlikely to fill one of the
expected Supreme Court vacancies because minority Democrats were
still strong enough to block appointments.

The Supreme Court's Chief Justice and leading conservative,
William Rehnquist, 80, is undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer.
During Mr Bush's second term up to three vacancies are likely to
appear on the ageing, nine-strong bench.

Senator Specter insisted that his comments should not be taken
as a warning to the White House not to nominate a judge who
supported overturning the Roe v Wade ruling that legalised abortion
in 1973.

Yet the vehemence and scale of the opposition to his hopes of
becoming chairman of the committee that oversees judicial nominees
is a striking illustration of the power and buoyant mood of
conservative Republicans after last week's elections.

A number of anti-abortion candidates won Senate races, including
Tom Coburn in Oklahoma, who said that he backed the death penalty
for "abortionists". Mr Coburn is on holiday and unavailable for
comment.

The furore over Senator Specter's remarks is seen as an early
shot across the bows of traditional centre-right Republicans.
Despite their gains last week, the Republicans hold only 55 of the
100 seats in the Senate, five short of the figure required to
confirm Mr Bush's judicial and cabinet appointees.

Since his re-election Mr Bush has talked of reaching out to his
Democratic foes after the bitter and polarised campaign, but early
indications suggest this would not mean him compromising his
conservative agenda.

In his first interview since engineering the victory, Karl Rove,
the chief presidential adviser, said he expected Mr Bush to press
ahead with his controversial plans to amend the constitution to
prevent individual states legalising homosexual marriages.

"The President has the old-fashioned notion that when you run on
something in a campaign, then you should try to do it when you're
in office," he said.

Mr Bush spent the weekend at Camp David assessing changes to his
cabinet, while aides worked on his plans for tax cuts and changes
to social security. The Secretary of State, Colin Powell, who has
often clashed with the Pentagon and the Vice-President, Dick
Cheney, is still viewed as a likely departure from the
Administration. The Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, is now
expected to be granted his request to stay on until at least the
start of the next term.

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